World of Cultivation

The string of lantern lights were like the stars in the sky. She thought of the past years, their troubles, and how sparse the lights had been then. The present Cang Family was much more prosperous than before.

She did not feel much pride, only exhaustion.

At this time, she had shed her determination. She was like a helpless kitten curled in the corner.

“Daren.” The hoarse voice of a male sounded in the darkness.

She did not raise her head. She was too familiar with this voice, so familiar that she did not need to pretend in front of him. She gave a light sound of acknowledgement.

“Yesterday, someone visited Second Elder, and Second Elder saw them off at the gates,” the male said in a low voice. His usually calm voice was filled with indescribable fury. “Third Elder’s son was accepted into the first yao art house.”

Cang Ling Xue’s lips moved. She said indifferently, “Isn’t that what he hoped for? His prodigal son has always been a sickness on his mind.”

“Chief Elder most likely cannot withstand the pressure for long,” the male said in a low voice, “I heard Chief Elder’s steward say that they received a threat from an unknown person yesterday, the target is Chief Elder’s granddaughter. Chief Elder may likely remain quiet on this matter.”

“All of them betray me, haha,” Cang Ling Xue laughed. At this time, her cold laugh showed age that did not match her real age.

The male was silent for a moment before he suddenly spoke, “Daren flee!”

“Flee? Flee where?” Cang Ling Xue was bewildered. “What about the Cang Family? What about the merchant association?”

“How can we care about that now?” The male’s tone became panicked. “If Daren does not flee, it is likely ... ...”

“What’s there to be afraid of?” Cang Ling Xue smiled desolately. “Do not worry, I am worth more to them alive than dead. No matter if it is to take over the business association and the Cang Family or to become a tool to earn them money, they all need me alive.”

The male was silent.

Cang Ling Xue murmured to herself, “The elders are too timid, if they could harden their resolves, the business association would be able to bargain with these people ... ...”

“Daren, what if we throw away the business association?” the male suddenly asked.

“Throw away the association?” Cang Ling Xue stilled. Then her brow furrowed and she sat up. “Who told you this?”

“Yesterday night when I was spying on Second Elder, I was caught by someone when returning,” the male said calmly.

“Ah!” Cang Ling Xue was astounded, the sternness and authority on her face disappearing. She asked urgently, “Were you wounded?”

The male’s heart warmed. He shook his head and said, “No, the other only asked me to tell you this message.”

Cang Ling Xue’s expression eased slightly but her heart trembled. Uncle Yan’s strength was unfathomable in her eyes. No matter how difficult the mission was, Uncle Yan would finish it perfectly. Uncle Yan was the last support that her father had left her. If it wasn’t for Uncle Yan, she would not have taken charge of the Cang Family so quickly. While Uncle Yan had never said how powerful he was, she could hear from between his words that Uncle Yan had been a powerful expert in the past.

“What is their background?” Cang Ling Xue asked curiously. Her mind moved quickly. She did not fear the addition of a new power. In truth, any change for her in this hopeless situation was good news.

Because the situation would not be any worse than now.

“I could not see.” Uncle Yan’s tone was low, and filled with a rare wariness. “The other is familiar with the underground world. I encountered at least three people that match me in strength. Those in the underground world that have such strength will not be unknown yet I cannot identify these people’s origins.”

Cang Ling Xue became alert. She was intelligent and Uncle Yan’s words contained a great amount of information. The other was strong, and with so many experts, it would not be a minor faction. The other wanted her to give up on the business association, they clearly wanted her ability at management. Giving up on the association but not the Cang Family showed that the other had confidence they could guarantee the safety of the Cang Family.

This astounded her. If this message had not been carried to her by her most trusted Uncle Yan, she definitely would not believe it. Uncle Yan had watched her grow up and the two of them were like father and daughter. He definitely would not betray her.

Who was the other?

She knew the reason that she felt hopeless at the families pressuring her because they had the support of the Council of Elders!

They were not people that she, the Cang Family or the business association could fight.

This mysterious faction was so confident. She felt it hard to believe.

“Are there any underground factions so strong?” she murmured to herself.

“No.” Unexpectedly, Uncle Yan answered. His tone was filled with certainly. “The underground world is not large, and not as mysterious as the rumors say. The relatively major underground powers are closely connected to the Council of Elders.”

“Then where do they find the confidence to make this offer?” Cang Ling Xue was puzzled.

Uncle Yan hesitated for a while before saying, “They may not be an underground power.”

Cang Ling Xue stilled. “How so?”

Uncle Yan explained, “In truth, underground factions are fangs and teeth. Some major factions use them for convenience in spying and dealing with matters hard to openly resolve. If someone does it in the shadows, it is much easier to handle some matters. Most of the yao underground powers have great backgrounds and support. Sometimes, they are responsible for establishing contact. If I am right, and this develops, the faction behind them will be revealed.”

“No wonder the underground factions can do as they wish.” Cang Ling Xue finally realized and said.

“That is a misunderstanding. Actually, they are restrained in many aspects,” Uncle Yan said. “They cannot go too far in many matters. The higher ups will turn a blind eye to some matters and not pursue them in order for them to survive. If the higher ups order something, they have to complete it. The competition between the underground factions is cruel.”

The other wasn’t an underground faction. Cang Ling Xue became excited. Even though the situation was already like this, she still did not hope to fall to being on the side of an underground faction. The darkness was a road of no return, especially to a clan.

“Can Uncle Yan find out the origins of this underground factions?” she asked in anticipation.

If they could find the origins of these people, maybe they would find a clue to the people behind them.

This was a deadlock. If someone disturbed it, maybe it would offer them a chance.

Cang Ling Xue’s spirit rose again.

Uncle Yan looked at Cang Ling Xue whose fighting spirit had come back and nodded seriously, “I will try.”

———

Zuo Mo’s finger constantly moved through the air like a pen. He would occasionally stop and think for a while.

He had been in this crazed state for a few days. He constantly swiped and drew. Other people knew that he was considering a problem and did not disturb him.

Zuo Mo who had ate meat until he almost went insane originally prepared to refine the shen power he had just absorbed. Yet when he was in the cabin and preparing to refine the power, that unique pattern from the green strand reappeared once again in his mind.

This time, he saw it more clearly.

He discovered many places he had not seen clearly last time. He was overjoyed at these discoveries.

Zuo Mo was sure now that this pattern was a shen glyph!

For people now, shen glyphs were not something far away. Tian Huan had been the first to study shen glyphs and they were the ones with the most understanding of shen glyphs. Tian Huan’s shen power was based in shen glyphs. As shen power developed and more and more people cultivated shen power, people’s understanding of shen glyphs increased.

If one said that the core of ling power was seal scripts, then the core of shen power was shen glyphs.

Shen glyphs were not as mysterious as people imagined, but it was still the most profound and attractive mystery.

Even Tian Huan who had learned the most about shen glyphs, had only mastered no more than five complete shen glyphs up until now.

So when Zuo Mo realized what this pattern he could not understand was, he immediately became excited.

Zuo Mo knew a bit more than other people about shen glyphs. In ancient tribes, each tribe would have their own shen glyph. For example, the Sun glyph of the Sun Tribe and the Greenvine glyph of the Greenvine Tribe. These shen glyphs weren’t just related to their shen power, they were also related to something else, ancient shen devices!

Ancient shen devices were not the same as the present shen device raiments. The forging of ancient shen devices were done by the greatest members of each tribe imprinting the shen glyph into the device. The present shen device raiments was something that Zuo Mo had based more on forging methods before he had comprehended a complete shen glyph.

Almost all of the shen device raiments followed Zuo Mo’s example.

Zuo Mo had mastery of two shen glyphs. One was the Sun glyph, the other the Greenvine glyph.

Of the two, he was more skilled on the Sun glyph and less skilled with the Greenvine glyph. However, even though he mastered the Sun glyph, there were still many places he did not understand. The difference between shen glyphs and seal scripts was that every part of the shen glyph had to be comprehended. If one could not comprehend it, they could not use it, or draw it.

A completely new shen glyph immediately caused Zuo Mo to become excited.

While he could not comprehend it right now, the value in a new shen glyph still excited Zuo Mo.

As these years passed, and people pursued shen power by exploring ancient ruins, all kinds of shen glyph fragments appeared.

On the black market, a rubbing of a shen glyph part was worth cities.

Only those that comprehend shen glyphs could make imprints, and it was a great burden to the imprinter to make an imprint. Due to this, the number of shen glyph imprints on the market was very small.

Zuo Mo quickly was immersed in the comprehension of a new shen glyph. He tried to draw it according to the image in his mind.

Suddenly, his fingertip felt heavy and gave him a different feeling.

Translator Ramblings: If Zuo Mo didn’t have any money right now, he would be selling shen glyphs pieces like crazy.